Potato-digger



mom WELLS- 'POTATODIGGER. Y 7- I Patented Feb. 19, 1895 (WITNESSESl/VVEWI'Ofl Wax/ C M By $5 mzome W /W- wzwzk Y uunms PETERS co.mow-Luna, WASNINGTON n c PATENT FFICE.

PHILIP F. WELLS, OF MILFORD, MICHIGAN.

POTATO-BIGGER.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,417, dated February19, 1895.

Application filed May 7,13 4, Seria1N ,510,4=3Z' (No modeLl To all whomit may concern: I

Be it known that I, PHILIP F. WELLS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Milford,

consists of the construction, combination andarrangement of the devicesand appliances hereinafter specified and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective of adevice embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in Vertical longitudinalsection and inverted plan showing the manner in which the shafts E, E,are journaled at their inner ends.

I carry out my invention as follows:

A indicates any suitable Wheel frame.

A is the tongue.

I A is the axle.

B denotes beams extending longitudinally of the machine, carrying adigger blade C at their rear ends and having a vertical oscillatorymovement at their forward ends. To effect said oscillatory movement, Iengage upon the wheel frame, toward its forward end, a transverse bar Dconstructed with crank arms D having a jointed engagement with theforward ends of the beams B, as shown at b.

D is a lever arm engaged with the transverse bar D, for rocking said barand thereby lifting or rolling the crank arms D as may be desired. Thislever D is engaged with the transverse bar D midway its extremities in aposition to be readily grasped by the driver from the drivers seat (notshown). The lever D is provided with a pawl to engage a suitable rackbar, as shown, to hold the bar D in any given position of adjustment.

The beams B are curved downward toward their rear ends to engage thedigger blade 0.

It will readily be seen that by manipulating the crank shaft D by meansof the operating lever D the forward ends of the beams B may be raisedor lowered in a simple and convenient manner, as may be required to givethe required pitch to the blade 0. The rear extremities of the beams Bare extended past the union of the digger blade therewith, as shown atB, said extensions forming bearings series of finger or grate bars E Theshafts E and E are independently rotatable in any suitable manner. Thusfor example, their adjacent extremities may be independently journaledin a suitable bearing E toward the center of the digger blade.

F denotes vertical shaker bars engaged respectively at their lower endswith the rotatable shafts E and E. These shaker bars F are oscillatoryat their upper ends. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner. IAs shown, G denotes a transverse shaft engaged upon the wheel frameprovided with a gear G meshing with a gear A upon the axle A The shaft Gis constructed with crank arms g arranged at an angle the one to theother at the opposite ends of the shaft G, each crank arm g beingconnected by a pitman H with the upper end of the correspondingshakerbar F. It will thus be evident that as the crank shaft G isrotated, an alternating vibration will be given to the finger or gratebars upon each of the shaftsE and E thereby effectually sifting thepotatoes from the earth.

Toward'the rear end of the wheel frame, I locate a transverse crankshaft J, provided with an operating handle J for lifting the blade andthe grate bars from the ground. The lever J is connected with one of thebeams B by means of a pivotally connected arm j, the opposite extremityof the shaft J being also cranked, as indicated in dotted lines, andconnected with the other beam B by a jointed connecting arm j. The beamsB are fulcrumed upon the lower ends of the arms 9' and j, as shown at 9'Inasmuch as the digger blade ofttimes requires to be frequently'tilted,it is of much importance that the means for tilting it should be readilyaccessible to the driver from his seat, and so constructed and arrangedas to permit the blade to be tilted quickly, without stopping themachine or requiring the driver to leave his seat. By locating the leverD upon the bar D, as above 'for rotatable shafts E and E, each carryinga described, and providing the pawl and rack bar to hold the lever inany given position, the desired end is obtained in a simple andconvenient and most satisfactory manner.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a potato digger the combination ofa wheel frame, a transverse crank shaft D journaled upon said wheelframe, beams B connected at their forward ends respectively with thecranks of said crank shaft, a digger blade engaged with the rear ends ofsaid beams, and a lever D engaged withthe crank shaft mid-Way of itsextremities and provided with a pawl and rack bar to hold said lever ina given position whereby the forward ends of said beams may bevertically oscillated by the driver from the drivers seat, substantiallyas set forth.

2. In a potato digger the combination of a wheel frame, oscillatoryshaker bars F, means to alternately oscillate said shakerbars,independent shafts E and E engaged with said shaker barsrespectively, finger bars engaged with each of the shafts E and E,whereby each of said shafts may be alternately operated to alternatelyvibrate their respective finger bars, a digger blade, beams B engaged attheir rear ends withsaid digger blade, a transverse bar D journaled uponsaid wheel frame 0 having crank arms D engaged with the forward ends ofsaid beams, and a lever D engaged with said crank shaft mid-way itsextremities whereby the digger blade may be adjusted by the driver fromthe drivers seat,

5 said lever D provided with means to hold it in a given position,substantially as set forth.

3. In a potato digger the combination of a wheel frame, beams B, arotatable crank shaft D jonrnaled upon said wheel frame having a crankarm engaged with each of said beams, 46 and a lever D engaged with thecrank shaft midway of its extremities and provided with a pawl and rackbar to hold said lever in a given position, a digger blade carried bysaid beams at their rear extremities, shaker bars F, independentrotatable shafts E and E engaged with said shaker bars respectively,each carrying a series of finger or grate bars, and

a rotatable crank shaft G having a pitman connection with each of saidshakerbars, said 50 crank shaft G arranged to alternately vibrate thefinger barsupon the shaftsE and E, substantially as set forth.

t. In a potato digger the combination of a wheel frame, beams B, adigger blade carried by said beams at their rear extremities, a crankshaft D journaled upon said frame having a crank arm engaged with eachof said beams, and a leverD engaged with the crank shaft midway of itsextremities and provided with a pawl and rack bar to hold said lever ina given position, a crank shaft .I and connecting arms j, j upon whichsaid beams are fulcrnmed respectively, shaker bars F, independentlyrotatable shafts E E engaged 6 5 with said shaker bars, each carrying aseries of finger bars, a rotatable crank shaft G, a pitman connectingeach of the shaker bars F with the shaft G, said latter shaft arrangedto alternately vibrate the finger bars, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

PHILIP F. TELLS.

Witnesses:

N. S. WRIGHT, Orro BAENZIGER.

